PORTABLE AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT ARCHITECTURES AND METHODS FOR PORTABLE AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT

• US 20070006250A1
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Ramaswamy, Arun, Mears, Paul, Croy, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,023,882 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/9
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/44 for identifying broadcast stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17327 with deferred transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

Portable audience measurement architectures and methods for portable audience measurement are disclosed. A disclosed system contains a plurality of portable measurement devices configured to collect audience measurement data from media devices, a plurality of data collection servers configured to collect audience measurement data from the plurality of portable measurement devices, and a central data processing server. A portable measurement device establishes a communication link with a data collection server in a peer-to-peer manner and transfers the collected audience measurement data to the data collection server. Because the portable measurement device is not dedicated to a particular local data collection server, the portable measurement device periodically or a periodically broadcasts a message attempting to find a data collection server with which to establish a communication link.

Claims

1. An audience measurement architecture comprising:

a plurality of portable measurement devices, each of the portable measurement devices being structured to collect audience measurement data;

a first data collection server to collect audience measurement data from any of the plurality of portable measurement devices; and

a second data collection server to collect audience measurement data from any of the plurality of portable measurement devices, the first data collection server, the second data collection server and the plurality of portable measurement devices being structured to operate in accordance with an extensible data transport protocol.

2. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein the plurality of portable measurement devices are not associated with the first data collection server or the second data collection server.

3. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein the first data collection server and the second data collection server are networked with a central data processing server.

4. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein the first data collection server and the second data collection server are structured to publish their capabilities to receive audience measurement data.

5. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein the plurality of portable measurement devices are structured to publish their capability to upload audience measurement data.

6. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein the portable measurement devices are structured to upload the audience measurement data whenever one of the first and second data collection servers are detected.

7. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 6 wherein the portable measurement devices upload the audience measurement data to one of the first and second data collection servers via a wireless connection.

8. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein the portable measurement devices are structured to upload the audience measurement data after the portable measurement devices have collected a predetermined amount of audience measurement data and at least one of the first and second data collection servers are detected.

9. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein the audience measurement data comprises at least one of a signature of a broadcast program detected by the portable measurement device and a code broadcast with the broadcast program detected by the portable measurement device.

10. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of the portable measurement devices is associated with a fixed data collection device when it is located in a predetermined location.

11. An audience measurement architecture as defined in claim 10 wherein the predetermined location is a home of a panelist.

12. A method of collecting audience measurement data comprising:

gathering audience measurement data using a portable audience measurement device at a first location;

transporting the portable audience measurement device to a second location;

detecting, with the portable audience measurement device, availability of a first data collection server to collect audience measurement data;

uploading the collected audience measurement data to the first data collection server;

transporting the portable audience measurement device to the first location;

gathering audience measurement data using the portable audience measurement device at the first location;

transporting the portable audience measurement device to a third location;

detecting, with the portable audience measurement device, availability of a second data collection server to collect audience measurement data; and

uploading the collected audience measurement data to the second data collection server.

13. A method as defined in claim 12 wherein the first location is not the second location.

14. A method as defined in claim 13 wherein the first location is not the third location.

15. A method as defined in claim 12 wherein the first data collection server is not the second data collection server.

16. A method as defined in claim 12 wherein uploading the collected audience measurement data comprises transferring the collected audience measurement data via a wireless connection.

17. A method as defined in claim 12 wherein the first data collection server, the second data collection server, and the portable measurement device operate in accordance with an extensible data transport protocol.

18. A method as defined in claim 12 further comprising gathering audience measurement data at a further location;

and

uploading the audience measurement data gathered at the fourth location to one of the first and second data collection servers.

19. A method as defined in claim 12 wherein the first and second data collection servers and the portable audience measurement device have wireless communication capabilities.